Refrigerator appliances can include a cabinet that defines a fresh food chamber for receipt of fresh food items and a freezer chamber for receipt of frozen food items. In certain refrigerator appliances, the freezer chamber can be disposed below the fresh food chamber. Such refrigerator appliances are generally referred to as bottom-mount refrigerator appliances.
Certain bottom-mount refrigerator appliances include a drawer received within the freezer chamber to which the freezer door is mounted. The drawer can support a basket such that the basket is disposed within the freezer chamber when the drawer is closed and is disposed outside of the freezer chamber when the drawer is open. Drawer slides can be used to mount the drawer to the appliance's cabinet. Certain baskets include a lip or flange at a top of the basket. The flange rests on the drawer slides or related brackets in order to hang the basket from the drawer slides. In such appliances, the drawer slides are mounted to the freezer chamber's walls such that the basket can hang from the drawer slides.
Such a configuration has certain drawbacks. For example, the basket's flange can experience significant deflection when basket is loaded with heavy items. Also, perceived and actual storage volume within the basket and freezer chamber can be reduced by location of the drawer slides. Also, the bottom of the basket can snag on the drawer slides during removal of the basket from the freezer chamber. Accordingly, a refrigerator appliance with improved features for mounting a basket within a chilled chamber of the appliance would be useful. Also, a refrigerator appliance with features for mounting a drawer within a chilled chamber of the appliance such that the actual and/or perceived storage space of the chilled chamber is increased would be useful.
In addition, a bottom panel of the basket can deflect when loaded with heavy items. To reduce such deflection, the basket can include ribs and/or metal stiffeners to reduce the deflection. However, stiffeners offer limited support and can add to the overall cost of producing the refrigerator appliance. Accordingly, a basket for a refrigerator appliance with features for supporting a bottom panel of the basket would be useful.
Also, as the drawer shifts open and closed, the drawer slides can rack when they do not open and close simultaneously. Such racking can damage the drawer slides and/or the drawer. To limit racking, the drawer slides can be connected using a rack and pinion system that compels the drawer slides to shift simultaneously. However, such rack and pinion systems can be complex and expensive. Accordingly, a refrigerator appliance with features for limiting racking of the drawer would be useful. In particular, a refrigerator appliance with features for limiting racking of the drawer without a rack and pinion system would be useful.